Dear Vinod, I am soo happy to read about Your visit to our Father and our Home,and all what You did and saw. Wonderful! It is natural that You wanted to stay longer,to be there for Holiday too. Who would not. I am afraid that if i come there,i wont want to come back here anymore. I have such feeling. But even trip for few days is a Great,Great Blessing! Only thought of it is even,so every thouch of that sacred ground is a great boon. No matter You are back to strugling world,the Blessing and Grace,and presence of Bhagavan and Arunachala are always with You. Strugles will go away,it is bound to be so. So happy that You have been there! With love and prayers,

A bus journey, that too at night time will always be a tiring affair. You have to take a day extra and you should take rest on thefirst day, with a brief visit to Asramam and the rest of the things you can cover on Day 2,3 and 4.Arunachala Siva.

Dear Subramanian,

Thats very true! The main problem is the mode of transprt. If we go by air & cab it is still time consuming of 6hrs being expensive, if we we go by train & bus it is too time consuming (aprox 20hrs) & if we go in direct bus it is too tiring (aprox 11 hrs). It would have been better if there is a air port in Tvnmlai, with a direct/connect flight.

But yes, if people are not used to bus journey it is big hell, but thats okay as we say in hindi "kuch paaney ke liye kuch khona padtha hai"

Last year when I have done pradakshina I met a guy of my age, who is a local guy. I always follow the dress code when ever I am in this sacred land. So as per the book "guide to girivalam" I always wear white clothes & wear rudraksha mala & do girivalam. When I met this guy during girivalam, he told me to be careful with such dress code because it may attract some siddhas which may be in any form and if it is in some strange form then it may be a shocking/scary experience for me.Usually I do pradakshina in the late nights and mostly alone, so his words pinches me some times when ever I am alone. Is there any truth in this, since he is a local guy?

Last year when I have done pradakshina I met a guy of my age, who is a local guy. I always follow the dress code when ever I am in this sacred land. So as per the book "guide to girivalam" I always wear white clothes & wear rudraksha mala & do girivalam. When I met this guy during girivalam, he told me to be careful with such dress code because it may attract some siddhas which may be in any form and if it is in some strange form then it may be a shocking/scary experience for me.Usually I do pradakshina in the late nights and mostly alone, so his words pinches me some times when ever I am alone. Is there any truth in this, since he is a local guy?

OM ARUNAACHALESHWARAAYA NAMAHA!

Vinod

Arunachala is a place for Siddhas and nothing surprising in siddhas moving around in various forms . But if you have the mind focused on the Maha Mantra "Arunachala Siva Arunachala Siva .." while doing pradakshina then you need not fear anything . Usually during darkness when we are traveling alone there is a natural fear in any place but that fear need not be there when you travel around Arunachala as you do not consider Arunachala to just another hill of mud and rocks but a very living form of Lord Shiva .

Om Peace .

Logged

However many holy words you read, however many you speak, what good will they do you if you do not act on upon them? - Buddha

I was very fortunate to be present on the auspicious day of Shivraatri in Tvnmlai. I stayed there for 4 days & did not realize how fast the days went & I wonder why does it take so long for the weekend to come while working in office

For the first time I have done pradakshina in the wee hours starting @ 2.00 AM & it was really amazing coz it was shivraatri & when ever I visited any shrine of Lord shiva there was abhishekam going on & this made my journey very special. When I visited the panchamukha view it was early morning & the view of the hill was very beautiful & with the slokas of Shiva playing on the way, helped me to focus on the saadhana without getting distracted. What more I could wish for in this birth, Lord arunachala in front of my eyes, voice of om namah shivaay in the ears, singing occasionally with the sadhus in the shrines, it was total mesmerizing on the special day of mahaa shivraatri.

I always used to wonder why i could never hear a prayer in hindi which I could understand in ramanaashramam & my wish was fulfilled as there was a lady who was present on all 3 days & sang classical songs in hindi, Which was very melodious. I felt very happy & for the first time I could understand a prayer in the ashramam completely.

You are doubly blessed in staying in Arunachala,. doing girivalam and having darshan of Sri Bhagavan (Sri Ramaneswara Mahalingamand Sri Matrubhuteswara Lingam and Yogambika - on Sivaratri night apart from having darshan and Uma and Siva in the temple.Very nice. Did you visit Sri Dakshinamurti shrines (both inside and outside the Asramam) and also Guru Moortham? These are places of importance, apart from Pachiamman Kovil, where Sri Bhagavan told Muni the last three hundred verses of Uma Sahasram,in a trance.

Trust me people, if possible try to visit Tvnmlai on shivraatri coz on this day u can find less people compared to the maha deepam or the pournami day. As I told u what makes this day special while doing girivalam compared to any other day is, when ever u visit any shrine during any time in the night, u will find puja or bhajans happening the whole night & it makes u feel as if u are physically present with shiva & totally immersed in him with out any distractions what so ever. Trust me people try to visit next time & this also makes elderly people easy to do girivalam with less crowd

When I visited my favorite adi annamalai temple, there was preparations happening & they did not open the curtains for long time & I was feeling little bit weak & tired, as I fasted for the whole day & disappointed that I did not get the opportunity to see the lord & I waited for some time & started to leave. When I was about to leave the main entrance, they have opened the curtains & started abhishekam & I was so fortunate that this time I entered the main shrine & felt very fortunate to be there inside. This was very special to me coz Adi annamalai temple is my fav one since it is one of the oldest compared to the main temple as well.

I never done girivalam in the wee hours but it was beautiful with cold breeze, less traffic & the beauty of the hill esp when the early morning sun rays falling on it, gosh I wonder even Himalayas would feel jealous of it. I cannot stop thanking the ones who have installed the speakers on the girivalam way, as it continuously plays the slokas which also reduces sound of the traffic or the honkies.

It was morning 8.30 I guess & I completed girivalam & my desire was fulfilled coz my fav day in the entire year has been the way, I have wished for it & what more I could ask for.

I have been watching few changes in the few years I have been in Tvnmalai. People are becoming very desperate for the money, from beggars to even pujaris(with due respect). When I have come to the main entrance of the main temple, there was a bit elderly lady selling idlis in the hand to feed the cow. When I was about to pass the main entrance all of a sudden she force-ably handed me 2 set of idlis wrapped in dry leaf. Initially what I thought was may be she was scared to feed the cow(how foolish i was) & I took the idlis(which was my mistake) & immediately she told me to feed the cow, as it is good. Then i realized that she is selling, then I told I am sorry! i dont want to do it(with gestures) coz the cow was not eating idlis as there were 2 idlis already lying on the ground, then she showed me a old guy who is just standing beside her & asked to donate it to him, which was part of their trick. Immediately she shouted some thing in tamil for which I felt really embarrassed & finally landed up paying Rs 40 to her for those idlis. I was bit upset coz i landed up paying money to the wrong people, instead I would have donated it to few beggars.

Okay thats fine, so next day When I was having coconut water the vendor gave me a note of Rs 5 which cannot be exchanged in hyd. So I decided to give it to a elderly women who is just standing beside the coconut vendor. There was a guy who introduced him self as ex pilot & told me to stop donating money coz the money will be used for such activities which we cannot imagine. He told me to distinguish people & donate accordingly or give it in ramanashramam as charity, which will be properly used in feeding the poor. Now I am in total dilemma whether to donate money or not & how can we distinguish people?